Stars including actress Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee have said they will not be attending, although Ruffalo said he would "probably" not join the boycott.

He is nominated in the best supporting actor category for his role in Spotlight where he plays a journalist at a paper that discovered a cover-up of child sex abuse in the Catholic church in Massachusetts.

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Ruffalo is one of the first Oscar nominees to comment on the row.

Speaking at the film's premiere in London, he said of the boycott call: "I do have a great deal of sympathy for it and I think it is a powerful gesture.

"And I think that those folks who are getting involved there should get involved with the people who are losing their lives every day, in the Black Lives Matter movement."

But he admitted he was "struggling" to get behind the boycott campaign and indicated he would be going to the ceremony as he "represents" the victims whose stories feature in his movie.

He said: "It's something I am struggling with personally to get behind this or not.

"The only reason I am probably not going to take part in the boycott is because I am representing another kind of victim and the Oscars mean a lot to these people."

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He added: "There are thousands of people who have been voiceless, who have been sexually abused by priests.

"I have given it a lot of thought and although I have done quite a bit for the Black Lives Matter movement, I feel like I need to stand for these people I am representing in this movie."